


I'll cover you when the sky comes crashing in

by partialresonance



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, Gingerpilot, Gingerpilot Week 2020, Grief, Heavy Angst, M/M, Mild Suicidal Ideation, Oral Sex, Rimming, Shower Sex, Smut, Temporary Character Death, That's Not How The Force Works
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:47:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25236430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/partialresonance/pseuds/partialresonance
Summary: Written for Gingerpilot Week 2020 Day 3: AngstPoe’s worst nightmare comes true when he opens up the escape pod to find Hux’s body. But maybe Rey and Ben can help.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Armitage Hux
Comments: 23
Kudos: 120
Collections: Gingerpilot Week 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All of the smut is quarantined in chapter two. *puts up police tape*

The hiss of the unsealing escape pod echoes through the hangar. Poe wrenches the lid to the side and it slides heavily to the floor. What he sees inside makes his blood run cold.

“No.”

It leaves him in a shaky whisper.

He dives forward, slipping his hands under the body and wrenching it up. Hux’s head lolls limply, coming to rest in the crook of his elbow, a spray of golden-red hair falling to cover his waxy, pale face.

Everything stops.

Poe isn’t breathing. He lifts Hux out of the escape pod, laying him across his lap. His fingers fly to Hux’s neck, seeking out the pulse that should flutter, stubborn as the man himself, beneath the delicate skin at the junction of throat and jaw. There’s nothing.

“ _NO!”_

The hoarse shout punches out of him as his arms spasm, drawing Hux’s cold body against his chest. Distantly, Poe registers the feeling of hands on his back and shoulders; he wrenches himself away, crying out again and again, his despair echoing throughout the hangar, cutting through the murmur of the crowd behind him.

There’s a hole opening up inside of him. It sucks him down and Poe lets himself go. Nothing matters anymore—Hux is dead, he’d saved their lives but Poe hadn’t been able to save him. No one standing at his back who calls themself his friend understands. They don’t know Hux like he knows him—knew him. The realization that he would have to live like this now, thinking of Hux in the past tense, sends him reeling forward, slumping over Hux’s body.

“No, no, no.” The first tears fall; his breath comes hoarse and ragged and he’s shaking. With one arm curled around Hux’s back, supporting him as gently as he had when they had lain together, when they had come to know each other in stolen moments of intimacy in the dark, Poe reaches up with his other hand to touch Hux’s face, the bloodless skin icy beneath his fingertips.

“Please, baby.” He struggles to speak around chest-wracking sobs. “Please wake up. Hugs. Baby. Darling.” He folds forward, curling around Hux as if he can protect him from the fate that has already come to rest its black wings inside of him, slipping in through the burnt and rent flesh of his sternum. As his forehead comes to rest against Hux’s Poe thinks, numbly, _he bled so much._

The tacky, drying blood is everywhere. Covering Hux’s uniform, all over Poe’s hands and arms, splashed against the interior walls of the escape pod. Hux’s death had not been quick.

Hux had died alone, in an escape pod drifting through cold space, after engineering Poe’s escape. He had watched his lover leave and then, shivering and weak and clinging to life as long as he could, finally succumbed to his injury—never knowing how Poe had scrambled to retrieve him. Poe’s every thought after leaving Hux behind, at the man’s own stubborn insistence, had been on how to get him back.

He was too late.

Poe doesn’t recognize the sound that rips itself from his throat. It’s a long, keening note of hysteria, his pleas for Hux to open to his eyes dissolving into this animal wretchedness. The hands on his shoulders take firm hold of him.

“Poe. Poe!”

“Go away,” he moans, trying to shake Finn off. But his movements are weak now. Everything is draining out of him and he’s slumping forward over Hux’s body. The sounds behind him fade in and out, voices muffled and slurred, as blurry as his vision.

It’s only when someone crouches in front of him that Poe rears up, snarling, clutching Hux protectively to his chest.

It’s Rey.

“Poe,” she says gently, holding both hands up in front of her as if appealing to a feral creature. “I just want to help. Let me try to help.”

“You can’t!” Poe’s voice catches and breaks. His breath comes wildly, chest heaving as he tries to draw in enough air. “He’s _dead!_ ”

He realizes his hand has fallen from Hux’s face down to the base of his throat, where a silver chain peeks out from the rumpled and singed collar of his starched uniform. Poe clutches at it, fist curling around the chain that holds his mother’s ring, pressing his knuckles into Hux’s icy flesh as if he is trying to convince the body that it’s still his, still Hux’s, if Hux would just wake up he could claim it all over again…

A shadow looms behind Rey. Poe is loathe of anything that draws his attention away from Hux, but for a brief instant he almost gives in to the protective instinct that says to draw his blaster on the man who, to Poe’s knowledge, had done nothing but despise Hux for all the years they’d worked together.

“You should listen to her,” Ben says.

“Fuck off,” Poe growls. As he shifts, Hux’s head falls back unsupported, and he scrambles to adjust his grip so that the body is cradled more securely in his arms—as if Hux could be uncomfortable, as if he could still feel. “None of you cared about him.”

Poe just wants them all to leave him alone. His mind is unspooling in the face of a reality that he refuses to accept. He has the distant awareness that the next step will be someone trying to take the body away from him and he knows that he will never let Hux go. He wants to end here, with Hux. He doesn’t want to go a single step further without him.

“Maybe not,” Rey says slowly. Poe refuses to look at her. “But we care about you.” She seems to hesitate, and Poe feels the urge to shout at her again, to release the anger building inside of him. But he isn’t mad at Rey, or even really at Ben. He’s angry at himself—though even that is a distant thing, compared to his grief.

Rey reaches toward Hux and Poe covers him with his own body, lips pulling back from his teeth.

“Don’t touch him!”

He’s beyond reason. Hux is dead; of course nothing can hurt him now but Poe has to protect him, _he should have protected him_.

“I’m sorry to do this, Poe, but I need you to understand. We don’t have much time.”

Suddenly, Rey is in his head.

Poe’s breath quickens. He shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut, heart pounding at this remembered feeling of not being alone inside his own skull, his thoughts on display for another. But somehow he can tell that Rey isn’t looking at them; and she isn’t forcing her will on him, either. Rather, she’s opening up to him, showing him her own intentions, what she thinks is possible in a way that is more immediate, more convincing, than mere words.

Healing the snake on Pasaana. Healing Ben from a wound she’d inflicted herself. Ben healing _her_ —not just healing, but bringing her back to life. Poe gasps as the realization slams into him.

Rey had been _dead,_ and Ben had _brought her back._

His mind reels, throws up defenses against a hope that would shatter him if it came to nothing.

Ben and Rey have always been connected, and they are both Force users. None of that applies to Hux. How could she—? No. It wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t work with Hux, Hux is different and that’s why Poe loves him, she should just take everything from Poe and give it all to Hux if that’s how these things work. Poe has already lived a good life and he’d meant to show Hux what it could be like—to be loved, the way Poe has been loved.

All of his plans for his life together with Hux unfurl from him like sails suddenly too full of wind. He doesn’t hear Rey’s gasp, though he does feel her mental presence waver before solidifying again. Realizing how to project back at her, Poe takes everything inside of him—all of his love and adoration for the man in his arms, all of his hopes for their future, and bundles it up into something that glows and burns.

He shoves it at Rey, along with the plea: _take it from me, if you have to. Me instead of Hux. Please._

_I’ll need your help_ , Rey says in his mind. He feels the impression of her confident smile. _But we should all come out of it just fine. If we hurry._

“Okay,” Poe gasps. He’s sweating as Rey breaks the mental connection, his arms shaking around Hux. “Do it. Please. Help him.” _Help me._

They mean the same thing.

Ben kneels beside Rey and Poe stiffens in alarm. Ben is not to be trusted with the Force, in Poe’s experience.

But nothing can be worse than what has already happened. Nothing can be worse than the feeling of Hux’s body growing stiff in his arms, the utter _stillness_ of him. Hux burns brighter than anyone else in the galaxy, anything less than that is _wrong_ , and Poe is scrabbling at his sanity coming to terms with the horrible placidity of Hux’s expression.

Anything to see him breathe again. Anything to see him wrinkle his nose and sneer, to see his eyes open and shining with their cruel fire. Where there is destruction there is life, Poe thinks, knowing that it’s stupid, knowing that it’s true. Hux is his fire that burns away old growth to make way for something new.

“That’s it,” Rey says gently. “Just keep thinking about him. Think about how much—how much you love him. Ben?” She holds out her hand, palm up, and Ben takes it. He says nothing, for which Poe is grateful. Rey lays her other hand on Hux’s chest.

For a long moment, nothing happens.

Poe’s thoughts are skittering around in his head, falling away from him as panic spirals up from his stomach, freezing his heart and lungs. Hux, he reminds himself, he just has to think of Hux. It shouldn’t be hard. He can’t think of anything else.

He thinks of Hux, the first time they met—just two strangers in a dirty cantina, Poe immediately drawn to Hux because he’d known from first blush that the man didn’t belong there. He had been so beautiful in the ruddy light filtering through the dust-caked windows, and he’d been beautiful in bed, laid out beneath Poe, blushing and gasping and arching into his touch.

He’d even been beautiful the first time he tried to kill Poe. Poe cracks the tiniest of smiles as he remembers waking up to a blaster pressed to his temple after Hux had turned on the holonet and happened to see Poe’s face on a New Republic news bulletin about the Resistance effort. He’d been _especially_ beautiful after their tussle for the firearm ended up with Poe on top of him, hands wrapped around Hux’s wrists, kissing him until the blaster had fallen limp from his hand.

Poe had fallen in love with him right there on that dirty carpet. The war had escalated, torn them apart, done things to both of them—but still the galaxy forced them back together time after time, and Poe found himself orbiting the golden ferocity of Armitage Hux like the slow dance of a planet around its sun.

He’d given Hux his mother’s ring after Crait, when Hux had come to him with bruises blooming on his neck and side—not to complain of mistreatment, which Hux had always considered normal in the course of his life, but with the information vital to take down the sinister power that had festered on Exegol. Poe had repaid him in kisses and soothing touches, in promises of a life together after everything was done and the war was finally over.

He’s not sure if Hux ever really believed it, and it hurts to think that fate had proven him right.

Poe doesn’t know how many lives Hux saved by turning spy. All he knows is that the one that matters most to him was snuffed out when the galaxy had its back turned yet again to a man who had been beaten, but never broken—until now.

Poe feels something pulling from him, directly from the center of his chest. He closes his eyes, thinking it’s more grief come to smother him, to steal the breath from his lungs. _Good,_ he thinks. If he could choose to die right now of heartbreak, then he would.

_I just want to be with you, Hugs,_ he thinks. _I don’t want anything else._

A second later, he feels it. Warmth.

Hux is _warm._

His eyes fly open just as the body in his arms jerks. Hux’s chest spasms and his back arches into a ragged open-mouthed inhale, his hands clawing up, eyes open and wild and unseeing. Poe doesn’t have time to be shocked; the anguish and confusion on Hux’s face jolts him into the familiar role of giving comfort.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he says soothingly. He wraps his arms tight around Hux to trap his arms by his sides, keeping him from flailing as he rocks Hux back and forth, petting his hair, urging him to breathe. Poe is shaking and tears course freely down his face as he listens to Hux gulp for air. “I’ve got you, baby. You’re okay. You’re okay.”

“Don’t call me that,” Hux rasps, and that is when Poe breaks down at last. He drops his head to Hux’s chest and sobs, relief tearing through him, leaving him boneless and washed out.

“I love you. Oh, stars, I love you. Thank you.” He starts out thanking Hux for coming back to him but, suddenly remembering that there are other people in the galaxy, he lifts his head and locks eyes with Rey. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” She’s grinning widely as she stands up, cracking her knuckles as if she’s just finished rewiring some finicky system in the _Falcon._ “You owe me one.”

“Anything,” Poe chuckles, shaking his head at the enormity of what she’d done for him. Of course he could never repay her for _this. “_ How—how’d you do it?”

“Oh, you know. Just a little dyad magic.” Rey wiggles her fingers and winks. “We just took—what would you say, Ben? The life force of about a billion or so flowers, scattered across the galaxy?”

“Something like that,” Ben mumbles with a shrug.

“Something like that,” Poe repeats, looking dazedly back down at Hux.

Rey bends down again to place a hand on Poe’s shoulder and whisper,

“Leia taught me that love is the most powerful force in the galaxy. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Alright, everyone, let’s give ‘em some space,” Finn says to the crowd, and Poe smiles as he hears a few murmured ‘congratulations’ and even a ‘welcome aboard’, presumably directed at Hux. Finn pats his shoulder and Poe flashes a quick, shaky smile back at him before lowering his head to press his forehead against Hux’s.

“I thought I’d lost you.”

“I suppose you had.” Hux coughs and brings his hands up to touch his throat, then his chest, his expression full of wonder and a bit of fear. His uniform is still burned away from the blaster fire, but the skin beneath is smooth and whole. Poe lets him be for a moment—just stroking his hair, running a thumb over his cheek and jaw.

Eventually Hux sighs.

“I guess I’ll owe those two forever now.” He wrinkles his nose. “Ren will never let me live it down. He’ll have me shining his boots on the morrow, just you wait.”

Poe laughs.

“We don’t have to be here tomorrow. The war is over, I have a fast ship and a hot redhead—I can do whatever I want. We can leave tonight, go anywhere you want to go. I don’t care where I am as long as it’s with you.”

“Sap. You’ll be incorrigible now.” Hux blinks and relaxes into Poe’s arms, eyelids fluttering.

“How do you feel?”

“Hmm. Would ‘like death warmed over’ be too accurate?”

“Yeah. Yeah, a bit.” Poe cups Hux’s jaw and Hux opens his eyes, his expression softening as Poe lowers his face to place a kiss on the tip of Hux’s nose. Hux smiles. He lifts a hand, resting it heavily on the back of Poe’s neck, and tilts his chin up—and that’s all the invitation Poe needs to capture his mouth in a desperate, lingering kiss.

When they’re both breathless Poe breaks away, peppering a few little pecks across Hux’s chin. Then he helps the other man sit up—though he keeps his arm wrapped possessively around Hux’s waist.

“I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” Poe breathes against his neck. “You’ll have to fight me off with a stick just to use the refresher.”

Hux just smiles tiredly at him, patting his cheek.

“Speaking of which, you want to get cleaned up?”

“Yes, please. And then I’d like to sleep. Possibly for days.”

Poe keeps a hand on Hux’s lower back as they shuffle out of the hangar. He guides him to Poe’s quarters to pick up a set of clean clothes for each of them—they’ll have to requisition something that actually _fits_ Hux tomorrow, but these will do for now. On the way to the refresher Poe keeps a sharp eye on Hux, noting how he walks stiffly, his eyes glazing over.

He helps Hux peel off the ruined uniform. Hux’s movements are slow, delayed, and Poe finds himself nudging Hux’s arms into place so he can lift off his shirt. Hux stands there silently while Poe undresses, and then he guides him into the stall and adjusts the water.

“Can I wash you?”

Hux nods.

Poe starts with his hair, urging the taller man to bend down a little so he can see what he’s doing. Hux’s hands go to Poe’s waist for balance as he bows his head, letting Poe work the soap through his hair. Poe massages his scalp as he goes, and hears Hux release a quiet sigh.

Poe scrubs his shoulders, his arms, his chest and back. The dried blood is difficult to remove and at first Poe is hesitant, not wanting to hurt Hux by scrubbing his skin raw—but Hux urges him on with little sighs and happy groans.

“Feels good,” he murmurs, pressing back against Poe. Suddenly he turns around in Poe’s arms, looping his own loosely around Poe’s neck and leaning heavily against him. “I feel like the walking dead,” he chuckles. He noses at Poe’s neck, then kisses him there. He drags his teeth along the sensitive skin, sending shivers straight down to his toes, then nips at his jaw. “Wake me up.”

If his words are ambiguous, the warm press of his half-hard cock is not.

“Yes, sir.”


	2. Chapter 2

Poe takes Hux’s face in both hands and kisses him.

Warm water courses down over the both of them as he licks into Hux’s mouth, his jaw working as he feeds Hux his tongue, flicking it over the top of his mouth and running it across his teeth. When he slides their tongues together Hux lets out a moan, giving a delicate shudder as he leans in to it. His hands come up to grip Poe’s hips and give an insistent little tug.

Poe takes his time, kissing him thoroughly while one hand travels down to stroke the side of Hux’s neck, raising his fingers until just the edges of his nails skim along the sensitive skin. Hux shudders again and this time his fingers grip Poe with bruising strength. Poe can feel Hux’s cock filling out, hardening against him, and it takes an effort not to fall to his knees and take the throbbing length into his mouth right then and there.

He suddenly twists his fingers into Hux’s hair and tips the other man’s head to the side, exposing the length of his pale, graceful neck. Poe lips along the edge of his jaw, then licks a long stripe up Hux’s neck, nipping at his pulse point. Hux groans and presses himself flush against Poe, his feet nudging in so that they’re staggered with Poe’s and their hips are locked together. Poe is fully hard and holds back an answering groan as their cocks brush each other, an intense spark of pleasure gripping his stomach.

Poe puts his hands on Hux’s shoulders and pushes him back until Hux is pressed against the shower wall. He bends and takes one of Hux’s nipples into his mouth, licking around the areola and avoiding the pert nub for now. Hux twines his fingers in Poe’s hair, his breath hitching as goosebumps erupt on his chest and arms. A delicate blush has started to creep up from his chest over his neck, his cheeks aflame beneath eyes already heavy-lidded and lust-drunk.

Poe again takes his time teasing Hux’s nipples, first one and then the other treated to his tongue laving over them, around and around until Hux’s hips are twitching and he starts making choked-off little whines. Finally, Poe gives in and flicks his tongue over the little pink peaks. Hux cries out once in surprise at the intensity of the sensation, tossing his head back and afterwards panting up at the ceiling as Poe continues his attentions. When Poe is ready to move on, he goes to his knees, and as he moves away from blocking the spray of water it hits Hux’s chest and Hux moans at the further stimulation.

Hux’s cock is red and leaking when Poe takes it in hand, not stroking it but holding it in place as he presses the side of his face worshipfully against the shaft with a sigh. He closes his eyes and his long eyelashes brush the sensitive head. Poe looks up at Hux as he presses the head of his cock to his lips, first in a kiss, then opening his mouth around it as he takes it in just far enough that his lips seal over the tip. He flicks his tongue against the slit and Hux’s eyelids flutter. His mouth is open and slack with pleasure.

Poe swallows. He wants to take Hux’s cock in to his mouth, to feel the heavy weight of it against his tongue and the tip pressing against the back of his throat—but he has something else in mind first. Suddenly he takes hold of Hux’s hips and spins the slight man around, placing a hand flat against the small of Hux’s back. Hux braces his hands against the shower wall, breath coming harshly as Poe starts to knead his ass.

“You’re so perfect,” Poe murmurs. Hux’s ass is so cute and perky, perfectly pale and smooth and so small it can almost fit in both his hands. He continues kneading it for a few precious seconds, pulling the cheeks wider apart as he does until Hux’s cleft is exposed to the cascades of warm water flowing over his body. Hux moans loudly, hips twitching with need. Poe runs his finger along the crack, just barely missing the little pink hole at the center. He lets the water flow down Hux’s crack and rubs his finger gently over the rim.

Finally, Poe dips his head down and blows a hot breath over Hux’s most intimate place. He opens his mouth and presses the flat of his tongue against the hole, then licks a broad stripe that causes Hux’s knees to tremble. Poe grabs both of Hux’s ass cheeks and kneads them as he works, licking again and again, each time drawing another whimper of pleasure from Hux. A few times he darts his tongue against the rim teasingly before going back to licking, so that when Poe finally pushes the tip of his tongue in Hux shouts again and claws at the wall.

“Poe,” he gasps, “You—your mouth—”

Poe fucks him eagerly with his tongue, pushing it in as far as it will go and flicking against the walls of hot muscle inside of Hux. Hux is rocking his hips, pushing back against Poe’s mouth, greedy and abandoned as a single unbroken moan tumbles from his lips. Poe can feel Hux shaking beneath his hands. He wraps one arm around Hux, his forearm brushing Hux’s stiff cock as he holds Hux in place.

Poe’s own cock is painfully hard and he pauses for just a moment to stroke it a few times while pressing kisses to Hux’s cheeks. He nips Hux’s ass and Hux yelps and then laughs, a carefree and beautiful sound that lifts Poe’s heart. Poe spins Hux around again, stroking his thighs, loving him so much and desperate to taste his cock.

He takes Hux into his mouth with no preamble, swallowing to the hilt.

“Ah!” Hux gasps, chest rising and falling rapidly as his head rolls against the shower wall. “Ah—Poe—ah! _Ohhh_.”

Poe hollows out his cheeks, sucking hard at Hux while his hand falls to pump furiously at his own cock. He loves being in this position—on his knees before Hux, looking up at the man’s sweet face going slack with pleasure. He can feel Hux’s orgasm building beneath him, Hux’s hips moving in fitful little jerks as he tries to hold back from fucking into Poe’s mouth. His stomach twitches and his hands ball into fists and open again as his cock throbs under Poe’s attentions.

Poe comes up to swirl his tongue around the tip, then dives back down, taking the whole of Hux’s cock into his hot mouth. Hux’s eyes are squeezed shut, cheeks aflame, mouth open as he sucks in air. Poe removes Hux’s cock from his mouth long enough to say, his voice rough with lust,

“Come for me, baby. Come in my mouth, let me taste you.”

Before Hux can answer Poe is sucking him again, hard, not letting up as he feels Hux start to shake beneath his hands and tongue. Hux shouts as his climax hits.

“Fuck, fuck, _fuck!_ Ah, ah, ohhh…”

He pumps Poe’s mouth full of come and Poe closes his eyes as he swallows. His movements on his own cock have been erratic so far but as Hux empties into him Poe starts to stroke himself in earnest, his hips rocking, and he whines around Hux’s softening cock as he comes.

Poe releases Hux’s cock from his mouth and pants, wrapping a strong arm around one of Hux’s legs and burying his face in the other man’s thigh as he rides out his orgasm. He slumps on the floor, spent and blissed-out, taking a moment to even register that Hux’s hand is in his hair. He tilts his head up and Hux is looking down at him with wide, adoring eyes, running his hand through Poe’s wet hair and down the side of his face, stroking him with an affectionate touch that is just for Poe. No one else gets to see Hux like this.

“This,” Hux says breathlessly, his fingers ghosting over Poe’s lips, indicating his mouth, “is a dangerous thing.”

Poe grins and stands carefully, legs still wobbly from his orgasm. He clutches at Hux, drawing him in to a fierce hug and sighing as he feels Hux’s strong heartbeat against his chest. The hangar seems like a distant nightmare now. This was a good idea.

They leave the shower and Poe takes up a towel and starts drying Hux off, lifting his arm and gently rubbing the towel down the long, slender limb. Hux allows this for a moment, an amused little smirk on his face, then he pushes Poe away. It turns into a playful little shoving match, like two boys looking for any excuse to touch each other, hands slapping harmlessly against newly-cleaned skin and laughter echoing off the tile walls.

“Just let me do this for you,” Poe chuckles finally, grabbing the towel and tossing it over Hux’s head. Hux darts out a swift hand to grab his wrist—that spring-release energy of his shocking and delighting Poe, as always—and turns it to kiss the tender flesh.

“You have nothing to make up for,” he says quietly. Poe answers with a pained little smile, almost a grimace.

“I think I do.”

“No.” Hux gives a definitive shake of his head, placing a hand flat in the center of Poe’s bare chest. “You saved my life, Poe Dameron. I heard what the Jedi said. No one else who was in that hangar gives a bantha’s arse about me. Just you.” He lowers his voice to a soft admonishment. “So no more of this misplaced guilt, my love. I’m here because of you.”

Hux drops his hand and lets Poe towel him off with slightly shaking hands. When it’s done Poe takes the necklace with his mother’s ring from where it had been carefully placed atop their folded clothes and loops it around Hux’s neck. It rests against his pale, narrow chest at the sternum, beneath the gunmetal grey dog tags that Poe hopes, one day, Hux will be able to set aside for good. The two finish dressing in silence.

On their way back to Poe’s quarters, Hux surprises him again by throwing an arm over his shoulders. The taller man can walk quite easily like this, but he leans heavier and heavier against Poe until he finally presses Poe up to the wall. Hands possessively framing Poe’s face, his palms flat against the duracrete as Hux tilts down and nuzzles at his neck. Nothing scandalous by Poe’s standards, but for a public display it’s positively explicit compared to what Hux has previously been comfortable with. The halls are nearly empty but every once in a while the fall of footsteps grows perilously closer, only to turn a different corridor. Still, the possibility of discovery in this intimate pose is something Hux never would have risked before. 

When Poe remarks on this Hux leans close and whispers to him, “I don’t care what any of them think. They all know I died for you. I’d do it again, I’m not afraid of that—so how could I fear showing my affection for you?”

Poe shivers. The cruel twist of pleasure and pain is enough to leave him breathless, and he can only squeeze Hux’s waist and implore:

“Don’t talk like that. Please.”

“Of course.” Hux leaves a tiny little kiss on Poe’s neck as he goes, and threads his hand in Poe’s for the rest of the walk back to his room. Once inside the dark, familiar space, Hux simply collapses onto the bed, graceless and boneless in his exhaustion. Poe slides in next to him, drawing the ginger tight against his side as he covers them both with the thin blanket and dims the lights.

Without even a parting kiss goodnight, Hux falls asleep. His mouth falls open slightly when he is deep in slumber and his expression smoothes out into a childlike repose. His hair, barely dry and fluffy now when it is not tamed by product, falls over his forehead, obscuring one eye.

Poe watches him for a while, straining to make out the rise and fall of his chest, the sound of each new inhale. With the lights this dim it is difficult to make out the rosy flush to his skin that marks Hux as merely asleep, not—that other. But by laying a hand against his cheek Poe can feel his warmth. Eventually his vigil ends as he, too, drops off to sleep.

Some hours later Poe awakes with a start, a half-formed cry of despair wilting on his lips. His cheeks are wet and he’s shaking with fear. At some point during the night they had separated and Poe scrambles closer to Hux, laying a hand on his chest directly over the sleeping man’s heart. At first he’s too confused by terror to feel it but then—there it is. The constant thump, thump, thump of Hux’s hale heartbeat. The rise and fall of his chest. The thrumming of blood at his delicate pulse point, at the juncture of neck and jaw.

Poe bites back a sob and squeezes his eyes shut against the dream. He doesn’t know if he can ever enter that hangar again, but for now shoves the fear aside as best he can and lays his head on Hux’s chest so that his ear is pressed to the only thing in the galaxy that matters: the steady beat of Hux’s heart.


End file.
